


Homemade Gift

by shieldivarius



Series: Femslash Yuletide 2013 [11]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Established Relationship, F/F, Femslash Yuletide, Fluff, Knitting, Prompt: Homemade Gift
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-17
Updated: 2013-12-17
Packaged: 2018-01-05 00:34:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 829
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1087480
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shieldivarius/pseuds/shieldivarius
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Natasha knew she was fucked when Melinda's complaining she had no warm gloves inspired her to learn to knit instead of sending her to the store.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Homemade Gift

Natasha Romanoff spoke more than half a dozen languages without a trace of an accent. She danced ballet _en Pointe_. She could fire two handguns simultaneously without the recoil affecting her balance in the slightest. She knew the ins-and-outs of high society in twenty different distinct countries and cultures.

She could break a man’s neck between her thighs.

None of these abilities, none of these accomplishments, had prepared her for the sheer frustration that was _knitting_.

Natasha understood the theory. Knitted garments were made entirely up of a series of loops, intricately formed and woven together from continuous strands of yarn.

She understood and could form the basic knit and purl stitches.

Her little test swatch of garter stitch had come out fine.

It turned out, though, that mittens were a lot harder to knit than she’d thought they would be. If Natasha hadn’t completely lost her mind, she would have dropped the project, and any pretence of being good at handicrafts, the moment she’d opened the mitten pattern and realized how much it involved that she didn’t know. Unfortunately, her ability to make that decision had fled sometime around when Melinda had complained she didn’t have warm gloves and, instead of going out and buying her a pair, Natasha had decided to learn to knit.

It had been the biggest sign yet of how utterly fucked she was.

In only two weeks, the site she’d found with knitting help videos had jumped to one of the most frequently visited pages on her laptop, and she’d made four separate, desperate emergency visits down to the knitting shop she’d found in Soho, begging for help with glaring errors. 

Somehow she’d managed to finish the damn things, but that only left her where she was now—staring at the box she’d wrapped them in and wondering if she had time to get to the mall and buy a nice pair of leather gloves with wool lining. They’d be warmer, more practical, and Melinda would never have to know why Natasha had been so unavailable over the past month.

She _didn’t_ have time to get to a store, though, and the thought of tossing the mittens out when they’d caused her so much frustration didn’t feel satisfying in the least. Redirecting her pride into having made something, instead of fretting that it wasn’t perfect, Natasha dropped the box onto her passenger seat and headed out to face the music and meet Melinda.

 

“Promise me you won’t laugh,” Natasha said when it came time for them to exchange gifts. 

Melinda held the snowman-bedecked box in her hands and paused in tugging at the green bow on top to raise an eyebrow at Natasha.

“Why would I?” she asked.

Natasha grimaced and nodded at the package. “Just a request.”

Wearing a more intrigued expression than Natasha liked, Melinda tugged the ribbon off of the box and opened the lid. It took a lot of willpower on Natasha’s part to not turn away when Melinda shifted aside the top layer of tissue paper wrapping that enveloped the mittens.

Natasha had tried to arrange the pair in the box so that the side with the fewest, least obvious holes faced up. She’d done so hoping Melinda would look in the box, see a pair of mittens, and put them aside to take out later. No such luck.

The tiniest hint of a smile on her lips, Melinda put the box down and pulled the top mitten out from inside it.

“These are nice,” she said without a hint of hesitation or sarcasm. She pulled on the mitten she was holding. The tip of one of her fingers appeared, finding one of the holes and poking out of the black yarn. Natasha groaned. “Did you—“

“Yes,” Natasha said, cutting Melinda off. 

“When did you learn to knit?” She pulled the other mitten on as she spoke and rubbed her hands together. On, the mittens looked a little less misshapen, but they were still lumpy and not quite the same size. At least Melinda had been able to get both of them on her hands.

“Last month,” Natasha admitted.

Melinda’s tiny smile grew and she reached over and wrapped mittened hands around Natasha’s waist. 

“Thank you,” she said, tone genuine.

Natasha raised an eyebrow, because Melinda certainly had to know by now that she didn’t need to be humoured—or have her feelings coddled—quite to this extent.

“I mean it. I’m aware you could have _bought_ a pair of gloves, ‘Tasha.” She leaned in and placed a kiss on the corner of Natasha’s mouth. “And now I understand where you’ve been for weeks.”

Natasha gave a little hum of agreement and let Melinda pull her closer. They met in a proper kiss this time and Natasha sighed, happy, against Melinda’s lips. 

She was well and truly screwed, but if Melinda could humour her and her ridiculously terrible mittens, at least she knew she wasn’t alone in it.

**Author's Note:**

> http://shieldivarius.tumblr.com


End file.
